The haitian economy is a mess. If cruise ships stopped at Haitian ports, there would be some hard cash coming in, jobs generated, etc.
What woul it take cruise lines to commit to stopping their ships for port calls there?
I don’t know what it would take, really. Though honestly, when tourism was the big industry 30 years ago, I suspect Haiti’s economy was pretty rotten otherwise.
I had a friend from high school who went to a port outside of Haiti but did not enter the country. He said that kids were out swimming in the sea begging for coins with him and his brother throwing coins at them.
There are private resort areas for tourists which are guarded by fence and armed guards.
I would never, ever enter Haiti on my own without someone who has been in that country well. It is not a safe place and wasn’t before the earthquake hit. Except for Cuba (which would be fascinating) and Grand Cayman, I would not venture in the Caribbean.
They do, I was in Haiti back in Feb with Royal Caribbean. The line dropped off mattresses and bedding, and pallets of food and water. Labadee is a semi private peninsula that Royal Caribbean leases instead of going the private island route like some other lines do.